He stumbled forward, running through the smoke and fire until the gate loomed in front of him. The gap was wide enough to slip through easily; Titus led the way, Kaiden went in after him, and then the rest of the group followed as well.
An Improved Burst Arrow came through the opening from outside and caught Kaiden in the shoulder. He spun to see the rear ranks of the warden army also charging in. They’d abandoned their fight with The Syndicate army to make a mad dash to defend the gate.
Dawson and his free wardens stepped in front of their charge.
“I got this,” the former sergeant said. “You lot go with them!” he shouted to a group of free wardens that had fought their way to the gate. And with that, he turned back to the oncoming enemies and raised his hammer.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Warden HQ.
Kaiden couldn’t believe it.
We made it.
And from an initial scan of the room they were in – a sort of lobby with hallways leading off to either side – it didn’t seem there was anyone to fight them just yet. Probably that was on account of the massive damage to the space. In several areas the ceiling had collapsed and great chunks of stone had plummeted downward. Clearly many of the would-be defenders had been standing in the wrong places. Kaiden looked over them.
TankerFlanker **Deceased**
Warden Sergeant
Class: Power Warden
Level: 55
Harrison **Deceased**
Warden Captain
Class: Shield Warden
Level: 58
There were at least twenty dead wardens around the space. He would have thought the HQ would be more resistant to damage like this, especially given the strength of the gate. But with the skeleton crew of defenders gone, their job was that little bit easier, so he wasn’t complaining.
If it was calm inside the base, the fighting outside more than made up for it. Dawson and his free wardens were making a valiant stand. They needed to hold; if wardens caught them from the rear in close quarters like this, they would be doomed.
Kaiden pulled up his command module and redirected all their remaining forces to converge on the door.
“Help’s coming, Dawson. And once they do, we’ll storm this base. Secure it and broadcast the database,” he started to say, but was cut off as something massive rumbled through the floor.
“The gate!” Zelda shouted, pointing at it.
And she was right. It was moving.
The damaged door that had been busted open was sliding along its track now. The gap leading outside was narrowing by the moment. And then Kaiden saw why.
Dozens of drones were buzzing around the gate. But these weren’t proximity defense drones like they’d had around the Borrelly. These were repair drones. Their little arms and lasers were hard at work, and the gate’s health was replenishing by the moment.
The free wardens Dawson had sent after them ran as fast as they could, but the gate rumbled closed with a resounding echo. Moments later distant bangs echoed through it and Kaiden could see its health rising more slowly. The free wardens were trying to fight their way in, but their damage needed to outpace the drones’ repairs.
“Target the drones,” Kaiden said through command comms. “Take them down, then beat the gate.”
“Good thing we slipped through before that happened,” PlayaSlaya said, staring at the closed gate.
“I don’t think—” Thorne began, but PlayaSlaya cut her off with a gesture.
“We’re here. Let’s do this. Right, Kaiden?”
Kaiden nodded. He was right. They didn’t have time to waste. Having the rest of their forces with them would have been ideal, but they were inside the base now. Best to work with what they had. He used the command module to give an order for anyone that could to attack the gate, but based on how the battle had been going when the gate had closed, he doubted anyone would have time to follow that order anytime soon.
“I believe in this group,” he said, pushing any thought of the battle outside from his mind. “We made it this far. Now it’s time to finish this.”
As he spoke, his eyes flicked up to the timer at the top of his vision.
Shit. In all the chaos outside he’d forgotten about it. It was down to forty-five minutes now.
“Ellenton, Acton, Dawson, The Syndicate... our allies got us this far, but now their hopes rest with us,” he said, looking back to the group in front of him. “And the clock’s still ticking. We gotta move. Thorne, which way to the AFBS control room?”
For a moment, doubt clouded her face. What was up with her? Something seemed off. The moment passed, though, and Thorne gestured toward a hallway.
“It’s this way. Let’s be prepared for resistance. I don’t know why there’s no one here to stop us yet, but I don’t think we can count on that the whole way through.”
“I’ve got a hammer-gun that’s itching to be used if anyone steps up,” Zelda said.
“Ha! That’s the spirit,” PlayaSlaya said.
We made it, Kaiden thought as Thorne led the group out of the lobby and into a maze of hallways. While they jogged along, their medic, Skaia, healed anyone who’d taken damage.
“We’re closer now to victory than we’ve ever been,” Kaiden said, resisting the urge to celebrate. The job wasn’t done yet, but he could feel victory near at hand, so close he could almost reach out and touch it. “One last thing to do,” he said.
“Find the control room and broadcast Bernstein’s database,” Zelda said.
“Then we bring the whole rotten Party down,” Thorne added.
“Damn right!” Titus slammed his hammer against his shield with a cheer. “Let’s finish this.”
Forty-one minutes and counting…
Thorne checked the timer. We’re cutting it close, but we’re almost there. And technically, the countdown represents the quickest the Party can enact Killswitch, which means, in theory, we could have more time than we think. Best not to chance it, though.
She’d already been moving at a jog, leading the group through the maze of tunnels and closed-in passages that was Warden HQ, but now she picked
